Life and Times
by twasadark
Summary: A series of short Max/Alec stories written for livejournal's comment fic community. Each chapter is a new story. This will be updated as I complete prompts.
1. Chapter 1

Here's the deal with these. I'm all jazzed about the Dark Angel action going on over at livejournal's comment_fic community, so I'll be posting my completed prompts here as I finish them, one per chapter. The ones I'll post here will all be Max/Alec or just Alec, because I'm obsessed like that. I'm also obsessed with getting comments of any kind, from the one word "yay" to the long, thoughtful musings – so if you like my writing please do let me know. :-)

* * *

_Prompt: Max/Alec, following orders – the sweet fluffy version_

* * *

He drew back from the kiss with a last, lingering press of his lips, and just looked at her, his expression torn between amusement--the cat who'd caught the mouse--and trepidation, like he fully expected her to kick his ass 49 ways from Sunday.

Which she probably should. It was just that she was a bit shell-shocked. One minute they were alone, bent over the conference table in TC's command center and bickering over the plan for the upcoming mission, and the next Alec had her pressed up against the file cabinets licking into her mouth like she was a piece of rare chocolate and he wanted nothing more than to savor every bite.

"What the hell, Alec?" Max asked. She'd been going for outraged with her tone, but instead her voice just sounded shaky and breathless. And quite possibly humiliatingly turned on.

"You told me to make it good."

"I didn't ..." she paused, licking her lips. "I wanted an explanation for why you wouldn't go to Asha's tonight to get the intel Logan needs. Not … this."

"This, Max?" He was smiling, and standing too close. Way too close. She could smell his cologne, some spicy manly totally intoxicating scent that she really didn't want to like. "This is just me following orders."

Then he was kissing her again, all warm and wet and irresistible, and her objections just sort of … evaporated. It took her a moment to let go of the surprise and embarrassment and when she did, it rather surprised her to realize just how okay she was with Alec's lips on hers.


	2. Chapter 2

You know, this seemed a lot more skillfully done at midnight when I was writing it. Oh, dear. Hope you like it anyhow.

* * *

_Prompt: Max/Alec, following orders – the dark twisted version_

* * *

Alec tugged on his bonds, found them too tight and unyielding, specially designed handcuffs to withstand even his super strength. He swallowed, trying to calm the rolling pit of acid in his stomach and failing entirely.

"Max, please don't do this."

She gave a humorless little laugh. "Not a chance, soldier. You sealed your fate when you followed Renfro's orders to bring me back to her just a little too late." She cast a glance at Logan's sprawled, unmoving form, her mouth twisted into a rictus of a grin, then fastened her dark eyes on Alec. "It's your fault he's dead, and you have to pay for that."

She drew a handful of vials from her jacket pocket. They clinked together faintly, each filled with a different colored liquid. She plucked one of the vials from her hand and held it up to the light next to Logan's Eyes Only set up. "There's not telling what delicious little superbugs each of these holds. No telling what each of them will do to you, genetically engineered for perfection or not – no telling how long it will take for you to cry and beg for me to stop injecting them into your bloodstream."

"Max--"

She ignored Alec. "Of course, there's always the possibility that they won't have the desired effect." She padded over to the kitchen and selected the longest, sharpest cooking knife from the block on the counter. "Then I'll just have to get … creative."

Alec closed his eyes. God, he didn't even want to know what the hell she was planning.

"Max, look," he said, trying for reason. "This isn't you. Logan's death – what happened to him – it would make anyone go a little crazy to find that they accidentally killed their lover. Don't do something you're going to regret."

She gave him a dark, predatory smile. "Oh, don't you worry about that, soldier." She approached him, steel glinting in one hand and glass vials in the other. He sat helpless as her cool voice glided over him. "I'm going to enjoy this. You, on the other hand, won't be quite so lucky."


	3. Chapter 3

Oh, my. This has been done before by better writers than me, but this is what the muse had for me tonight. Hope it isn't too confusing.

* * *

_Prompt: Max/Alec, sparring partners_

* * *

"I'm not going to tell you again."

"Yeah, yeah."

"Don't 'yeah, yeah' me, mister."

"Why not? Missus."

"Because I – did you just call me 'missus'?"

"Uh …."

"Why, Alec. I would say I'm flattered if I wasn't so horrified by the notion."

"Horrified, my ass. You want me and you know it."

"Whatever. And let's just leave your ass out of it, all right?"

"Awww, Maxie. But it's such a sweet ass—wait! Don't—Hey! That hurt."

"Serves you right. Why is it always 'sex, sex, sex' with you? Hold on. Forget I asked that. I want to enjoy my view of Seattle from up here, not listen to you blather on and on."

"That hurts, Max. Why you gotta be so bitchy to me all the time?"

"If you weren't always following me around aggravating me I wouldn't be such a bitch."

"Hey, I won't stay when I'm not wanted. If you don't want me around, just say so."

"I don't want you around. Go, please. Preferably over the edge."

"Now you're saying you want me dead?"

"Well, at least it would be quiet then."

"Excuse me if I don't leap to my death to make you happy. Nope, Maxie. There's only one way you're going to get me to shut up and you don't have the guts to do it."

"Stop waggling your eyebrows at me, you pervert."

"Maxie is a chicken, a chicken, a chicken."

"If you think you're going to pester me into kissing you, you're dumber than you look."

"Bok, bok, bok, bok, bok."

"Alec, just go, will you? This isn't funny anymore."

"Bok, bok, bok, bok, bok."

"You're really asking for it, you know that?"

"You're really asking for it, you know that?"

"Alec!"

"Alec--"

"ARGH!"

"You're so cute when you're infuriated--"

" … Mmmm ..."

"Whoa. I didn't think you'd actually do it."

"I don't believe it. You are such a liar! You said you would shut up if I kissed you."

"Now that's not technically true. I only inferred that kissing me would shut me up. I didn't actually say that. Hey, Max? Come back here. Uh, Max. You're getting awfully near the edge. Max? Max? Maaaaaax …"


	4. Chapter 4

"What do you want?" Alec said shortly, his usual amiable expression replaced by the pale, tight face of a stranger.

"Com'on, Alec," Max said. It didn't come out as a whine. Because Max Guevara did not whine; most especially not about _Alec_ of all people. "Let me in, will you?"

Alec glanced away, into the hallway outside his apartment door, then sighed and opened the door wide enough for her to enter.

She walked into Alec's apartment and stood inside the doorway awkwardly. "I just came by to make sure you're okay."

"I'm fine. You can go now."

"Aw, come on. Don't be like that. I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have told that girl were hitting on that you have the sexual prowess of a baboon. That was crossing the line and you're right to be mad at me." She paused, fidgeting with the decorative ties on her jacket. "Forgive and forget, okay? Come on back to Crash."

Alec examined his fingernails pointedly. "Did Sketchy convince you to come over here? He wants another chance to win back the C-note he lost to me earlier, doesn't he?"

Max shifted in her boots. "Not exactly."

Alec looked up at her, eyebrows raised in expectation. "Well?"

"It was OC. She's taken a weird liking to you or something. She threatened to rent my half of the apartment out to a traveling circus if I didn't come over here and apologize."

Alec snorted. "I should have known that you wouldn't come over here on your own."

"Hey! That's not true." Max stepped up to him.

He straightened and they stood toe to toe. "Yeah? Prove it."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

Alec smirked. "Do I have to draw you a picture? Give me a chance to prove just how unbaboonlike I am in bed."

"You scheming … this was nothing more than a trick to get me over here, wasn't it?"

Alec shrugged, looking very young suddenly. "Not really. You were pretty harsh, Maxie."

She just looked at him for a moment, then said quietly, "I am sorry, Alec."

He gave her a small smile. "It's okay, Max. You know I can never stay mad at you."

She leaned forward and gave him a stilted hug that he seemed too surprised to return.

Alec never could stay angry at her, that was true. She had never really thought about why before, but she was beginning to wonder if it was the same reason she had spoiled his attempt to hook up earlier. And just considering that made her shiver.

* * *

_Prompt: Max/Alec, liniment – (I took it to mean something that makes you feel better)_


	5. Chapter 5

_A Long Fatal Love Chase (Louisa May Alcott)_

Max walked into her newly minted private apartment in TC and saw Alec leaning, pale and rumpled, against the scuffed old breakfast bar, an arm held protectively across his belly. The unexpected sight of him made her stomach clench up and a flush rush to her face. She sought refuge in bitchiness.

"Alec. My feet hurt, my head aches, I'm hungry, and I smell like four of Mole's cigars because that's how many he puffed through while standing two feet away from me in the Command Center. I am not in the mood for you right now." Max flung herself down on her sofa and sighed. Damn, it felt good to lie down for a few minutes. "What do you want, anyhow?"

At her tone, Alec's face went from hopeful to annoyed. "A little help, if it wouldn't inconvenience you too much. After all, you did send me out to deal with White's men without any backup. The least you can do is clean up the mess afterward."

"The mess? That's a good one, coming from you. I just came off an 18 hour shift in the Command Center. Do you want to know _why_ it was 18 hours? Because you and your bad romancing self chased off Wen and I was the only other one who knew all the ins and outs of the insanely complicated security system that Logan set up."

Alec snorted. "Logan. I probably would have had better luck if I'd gone to see him."

"Probably," Max agreed.

"And Wen wasn't really my fault. I never tried to lead her on. She was the one chasing me. It's not my fault I wasn't interested."

"Yeah, it is."

Alec huffed. "Well, I won't be a problem for very much longer."

Max sat up on her elbows to look at him. "What?"

Alec moved out from behind the bar. Blood soaked the front of his shirt. "Max, I'm in trouble," he rasped, then took a step toward her. His knee gave out and he slid slowly to the floor, his face paling further and limbs splaying out as he tried to catch himself and failed.

Max scrambled up and over to him in about two seconds flat. She pillowed his head on her thigh. "Alec, you idiot. What happened? Why aren't you in the infirmary?"

"The infirmary can't help me. I wanted to see you one last time." He clutched at her arm.

Max actually felt the blood drain from her face. She pulled at his shirt, looking for a wound. God, there was so much blood …

"Max, stop. Listen to me, please. We've been dancing around each other for months now. I know that things are over between you and Logan, have been over for a while now, but I didn't want to push you—wanted to give you more time, to make sure you were ready. Looks like I can't wait any more, though."

She bent over him, put both hands on his damp cheeks, and said, "No, no, Alec. Don't talk that way. We'll get you help. Everything is going to be all right."

"Tell me," he gasped. "I want to know. Is it just me? Or do you want me, too?"

"Alec--"

"No!" He cried out, every muscle tensing. "I have to know. Please."

Her head was throbbing, her stomach churning. "I--" Her throat closed up. She was no good at this, dammit. This _talking_ stuff. She bent down, her lips trembling, and kissed him tentatively, warm press of lips, warm scent of man and sweat and blood.

Alec made a noise in the back of his throat, something between a growl and a moan, and surged up to meet her lips, his own greedy and insatiable, drinking her down like he was a thirst ravaged man suddenly tossed into a lake. His arms wound around her back and pulled her against him, breasts pressing against his hard lean chest.

She pulled away, gasping. "Alec, I've got to get help for you."

"No," he murmured, pressing light kisses across her chin and into the sensitive juncture between her jaw and neck. The touch made a spike of pure lust impale her deeply. "Want to do this. Want it forever."

She pushed him back. Which was surprisingly hard for someone in his weakened condition. "You're bleeding!" She snapped.

He crooked a half grin. "No, I'm not. It's not my blood."

She'd been in the process of rising up on her knees when his words penetrated the panicked haze of her mind. "You're … what?"

He sat up, tugged his blood-soaked shirt up to reveal his belly. His untouched belly. "White's crony. He jumped me with a knife at the meeting place. It didn't go to well for him. Obviously."

She felt the breath leave her in a rush, felt heady relief bloom up from somewhere inside her to weaken her heart. "You came in here and made me think you were dying!" The sound of her voice brought her back to herself. She cuffed him upside the head instead.

"Ow! It worked, didn't it?"

She scowled at him, feeling like a gigantic idiot. "Yeah, you moron, I guess it did."

His expression softened. "I just … I got tired of waiting."

He smiled a little shyly, and leaned forward, cupping her cheek. "I'll never do it again. I promise," he said, lips pressing hers in a soft, wet, warm kiss. She felt some internal wall melt. God, this felt so good – so right … why they hadn't been doing this all along? Perhaps Alec was right and she had needed a big scare like his possible death to get her to acknowledge her feelings. Still. She pushed him down to the carpet on his back and planted her hands one on either side of his face.

"I'm gonna make sure you don't _ever_ do anything like that to me again." She drew her fist back.

He tensed, turning his cheek. "I know, I know. I deserve it. Just leave the lips alone, would you?"

She paused, somehow finding his reaction incredibly endearing, when once she would have been nothing but incredibly annoyed by it. Aw, to hell with it. She released her fist and bent to kiss him, stopping inches from his face. "You sure you want me to leave your lips alone?"

This time his smile was pure cocky Alec. "Hit me with your best shot."

3


	6. Chapter 6

* * *

_Dark Angel, The Blue Lady/Alec, snakebite quick, and the long slow savor of poison _

* * *

She crawled up his body slowly, eyes shining bright blue in the dim light, smile twisted and dark on her beautiful face. She moved like a cat, all sinewy grace and deliberate, malicious intent. He blinked, and though it was difficult to keep his eyes from closing entirely, he watched her approach half-lidded and helpless. A moan swelled up his throat, low and vibrating, communicating his distress in ways that words could not. Her smile widened. _This is it, _he knew. She would finish him off in moments. The glint of cold steel shone in her delicate hand. He knew all about how easily and efficiently such a sharp knife could open veins at the most vulnerable spots in his neck or at his wrists. He had ended the lives of enough people himself the same way.

He tried to move, sweat popping at the futile effort. Every muscle lay stiff, unyielding, and unresponsive to his panicked instructions to _move dammit move!_ His body in full on betrayal mode, limbs lying limp and heavy, heart thudding with slow dullness, too mechanical to quit … yet.

"Don't be afraid," she said in a low teasing voice. "It will be quick, my love. Maybe even painless. You know I must do this. You know I require a sacrifice."

"Don't," he slurred, voice hoarse and weak. "Leave 'lone …"

Sweat ran like tears from his face, pooled at the small of his back and ran, drip drip, onto the cold concrete of the deserted warehouse where she had ambushed him, shot him in the arm with some sort of fast-acting, super strong paralyzer and he was down for the count, rigid and helpless. And now death loomed near in the form of a woman. Well, he wasn't going to give up so easily --

"Alec!"

The world hazed. Rearranged itself.

"Alec, listen to me! You're going to be all right. You've been bitten by one of the Familiar's freaky ass snakes, but we're taking care of you now, okay?"

The woman's voice was no longer predatory and fickle. It was … concerned? Something wasn't right with that. Not when she was –

"Max?" He asked, head freed from that strange paralysis enough to loll as he tried to focus on her face.

"Alec," she breathed, relief sweetening her voice. "Thank God. We didn't know if you would – I mean, I didn't know … it doesn't matter. You're getting better, you hear me? You are."

Her hand clutched his and her eyes shone. Deep and brown, not cold and blue. A shudder passed through him. He let it shiver out his fingers and toes, kept his eyes on hers.

_Not blue not blue not blue._

"Yeah," he said, and did his best to squeeze her hand back.


	7. Chapter 7

* * *

_Alec, working undercover_

* * *

"Just do it already, will you?"

"Sheesh, I knew it. You're even bitchy in bed."

"You think this is bitchy? Just finish already or you'll see bitchy, mister. They'll be back at any minute."

"Hold on, I almost got it … yeah, that's it, sweetheart. Just a little to the right and—YES!"

The lock on the handcuffs clicked and popped open, and Max twisted off the big brass bed. She peeked out the door, found the coast clear. Damn White's crony, who had managed to get the drop on her with a brick to the back of her head, stunning her for a minute. When she came to she was handcuffed to the bed and the crony was gone, presumably to bring White and God knew how many others back to interrogate her … or worse. It's a good thing she hadn't come to the meeting place alone.

She raised her head to yell for Alec, only to find him in the doorway, smirking for a too-long moment and muttering something about how good she looked all splayed out and helpless before she snarled at him to get her loose.

She looked back over her shoulder to where Alec still sprawled on the bed, half-tangled in the comforter, his expression a little wistful.

"What are you still doing there?" She hissed.

"It's comfortable," Alec sighed. Then, at her expression of disbelief, he said, "What can I say? This, right here? Is the kind of undercover work I'm really good at."


	8. Chapter 8

* * *

_Dark Angel, Max/Alec, learning to trust _

_

* * *

  
_

He pushes her against the wall just hard enough to let her know that he means business, but not hard enough to hurt, then traps both wrists together over her head with one hand. And yeah, she can break free if she really wants to, but then he presses up against her, so tight and close that she can feel the thunder of his heartbeat against her breast, and just stares. He doesn't say anything, but he asks the question just the same with his eyes and his intense stare. There's a slight tremor in the arm he's using to restrain her and he's gasping a little. Alec, who she's always thought of as constitutionally unable to stop babbling is completely quiet except for the strain of his breath. Suddenly he's no longer the happy-go-lucky sociopath, no longer the good-natured smart ass; no, now he's someone else entirely. Someone hot and demanding and needy – someone who wants her with the kind of thinly leashed violence that thrills her and makes her think she doesn't know him at the same time.

She has a habit of acting without a lot of thought. Hey, that's what happens when you're a genetically engineered super soldier and people are trying to capture and kill you – you get used to thinking on the run. But she's trying to think now, trying to reason her way out of this situation and remind herself this he isn't someone she can count on. He's not someone safe. What did she tell Joshua? That he's unreliable? Something along those lines. Yet here he is, asking and waiting and letting her know that she _can_ trust him, that this doesn't have to go any further. It's all in her hands. The knowledge is an aphrodisiac.

Her body makes the decision for her. She gives the slightest nod and God not even a second later he's all over her--lips moist and devouring, breath hot and harsh, the hand on her wrists tightening just a fraction as his other hand snakes around her hip to grasp her ass. Both of them moan at the contact. She surges against him, feels the solid breadth of him, the lean muscle straining and beautiful.

"Alec," she gasps. "Alec." She doesn't know what she's asking for, she just wants.

"Want you," he murmurs, a hoarse desire-clogged whisper.

She hitches a knee up, curls it around his backside, feels his hot, hard weight straining toward her as she grinds up into him.

"You've got me," she says, and kisses him this time.


	9. Chapter 9

* * *

_Dark Angel, Max/Alec, kiss it and make it better _

* * *

"Damn it!" Alec cursed, tripping over the box and plowing into the pavement, his bike wobbling off the other direction to crash into the wall and fall over with a clatter. "Why's that box doing there? Did you put it there?" He asked Max, who was guiding her bike along the alley outside of Jam Pony, same as Alec had been doing.

"Alec, come on. We've each got one more delivery to make before we get off tonight and I don't have to see your stupid face any more. So let's get at it."

"I knew it, you _did_ do it!" He accused.

"Yeah, Alec, I sneaked out here and put a random box full of," She bent down to investigate. _"Diapers_ on the street just so you'd trip over them."

"I wouldn't put it past you," he said, pouting and limping, the knee of his brown khakis torn and a smudge of blood showing through the hole.

Max, who felt even more spectacularly bitchy today than she usually did, said in a baby voice, "Awww, what did poor widdle Alec do? Did he hurt his widdle knee? Want me to kiss it better?"

Alec's eyes narrowed and he reached over to yank Max's handlebars away from her. "I'll just take this and you can use my bike over there to finish your delivery."

Max gave what might in some circles be termed a shriek and pushed him. "Give it back!"

"I don't think so," Alec said with a smirk.

Max surged forward and grasped the bike handles, trying to wrest them away from Alec, which quickly started grappling that involved grunting and poking and slapping. They were so close that Max could smell the cologne on big stupid Alec's body. Max's hair got tangled in the button on Alec's front shirt pocket and he tried to untangle it as she squirmed away in annoyance, not really caring at this point if she did manage to rip out a huge chunk of her scalp in the process. "Hold up," Alec protested, intent on unwinding her hair, "I've almost got it."

There faces were close together. Alec was all up in her space and God, she just wanted to be away from his smooth skin and lean muscles and delicious looking lips--

Then he looked up at her, just inches away, and somehow they were kissing. Max had a brief impression of _warm, wet, just as delicious as they looked_ when she realized what was happening. That was apparently the same moment that _Alec_ realized what was happened.

They both jerked apart and gaped at each other.

For his part, Alec looked just as stunned and disturbed as she felt. His lips were parted and before something stupid started coming out of them, she took the offensive, lunging forward to tear the handlebars from his nerveless grasp.

She smirked this time, and said, "Made you forget all about your knee, now didn't I?"

With a backward glance, she mounted her bike and pedaled off, giving a bark of laughter that she hoped didn't sound too forced. She could freak out about who kissed who and why it felt so damn good later. Now, she just enjoyed the sight of Alec's eyes following her in what looked an awful lot like stunned amazement.


	10. Chapter 10

* * *

_Dark Angel, Max/Alec, Wanting more _

_

* * *

  
_

It's a Thursday evening, late, and she's alone in the apartment for once. Original Cindy is out with some chick and she's not expecting company. When she opens the door she finds Alec standing there, head bent and hands jammed in his pockets, looking as uncomfortable as hell.

"Hey," he says, soft and low.

"Hey," she greets him uncertainly. "Come on in."

He looks incredible in a dark green sweater and cargo pants – nothing different from what he normally wears, but now that she knows what lies underneath she can't help but flash on smooth skin and a warm willing mouth and strong arms.

"What is it?" She's half expecting some transgenic-related disaster. Or maybe it's more accurate to say that she's half hoping for one.

He looks aside, jaw tight. "Look, I'm not one for beating around the bush. We need to talk. About you and I."

She feels a little sick. "There is no 'you and I.'"

He gives her a wry grin that's acutely painful. "Yeah, I'm aware of that. And I'm here to tell you that I'm tired of that. I'm tired of being nothing more than some dick you come to whenever your heat is on. I want more."

And, wow, that's blunt. It shocks her and pisses her off. "You want more? More what? More action? Cause I gotta tell you, mister, you get plenty of action when I come around. Any more and you're going to have to find yourself another couple of heat-afflicted honeys at the same time."

A quick flash of anger travels across his face. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I want a relationship. With you. Not just random sex whenever you feel like it … as good as that is."

"Oh, come on, Alec. Random sex was all it was ever about."

"You're right. That's how it started, but I don't want that anymore. And before you bring Logan up – just don't. We both know that is over before it ever really got going."

She can't help it – that stings. He must see that in her eyes because his face softens. "Come one, Max. Give us a chance. I want us to give it a shot – you and me against the world. What do you say?"

"I say: you're crazy," she snaps, not thinking, just reacting.

She sees her words hit him like bullets. His face crumples, but he nods, looking as though he expected that answer. There's a long awkward pause while he looks at the floor, then swallows with obvious effort. He clears his throat. "Then, when your heat hits again, don't come to me. There's not going to be a next time. I won't let you do that to me."

He turns on his heel, back stiff, and reaches out for the doorknob.

"Alec, come on--"

"I mean it, Max," he says over his shoulder. Then he opens the door and steps out into the hall, shuts it behind him with a final-sounding click. She hears his footsteps retreat outside her apartment door.

She's stunned. _Alec_ wants more. Devil may care, smart ass, love 'em and leave 'em _Alec_ wants more from her. Something else is stunning her even more, though.

She's actually considering giving it to him.

* * *

_So I'm powering through prompts pretty fast. Are you enjoying these little snippets? Do you have any constructive criticism? What do you think of the subjects so far? Too similar? Please let me know. _


	11. Chapter 11

* * *

_Dark Angel, Alec, a panther disguised as a kitten, a hurricane hidden as a light spring rain _

* * *

There's always this moment of doubt, visceral and tangible and as real as anything has ever been, when she sees him fight for her, body lean and slender but strong, so strong. What if he isn't as invincible as he seems? What if he loses … ? See, that's the problem, the fear … the longing to keep him. It's a problem because she's daring to think of him with her, day in and day out, of living the small parts of life with him, the touches and laughter and green eyes smiling down at her after a kiss.

As he slams the X-5 to the ground, panther-quick, she knows he's won again, and she feels her heart warm with pleasure. Her champion. She's the leader of TC, has been since there little rebellion, but it hasn't been an easy position to occupy. The other X-5's were born and bred to strive for dominance, to compete for the right to rule and mate and subjugate others, so she's constantly being challenged. He answers every challenge, doesn't even need to be asked, just does it automatically because he wants to. As he looks toward her now, face uplifted and looking for approval, she smiles. He gives her what she wants – a position of power – so she gives him what he needs. Herself.


	12. Chapter 12

_Dark Angel, Max/Alec, seizure_

* * *

"Just hold on, Maxie. I'm right here. It's going to be okay."

"I know that," Max stuttered out, trying as best she could to convey irritation while shaking uncontrollably. She could tell from Alec's pale face and worried expression that she wasn't doing a bang up job of it. "It's no big deal; it'll be over soon," she assured him.

Alec got up and started banging around the abandoned lab they were hiding in, pushing aside crates and opening cupboard doors. "There might be something here we can use to help …"

"Alec!" Max called.

Alec rushed back to her. "What?"

"Would you just calm down, please? You're not going to find any serotonin pills in this place. No milk either."

They were here on a tip from one of Eyes Only's informers, who was supposed to show up an hour ago with information on a serotonin shipment. He never showed and Max was too sick to drive her motorcycle home. Unfortunately, Alec stayed out of a misguided case of chivalry.

Alec shrugged. "I thought … yeah, you're right. It's stupid. I just want to do something to help."

The shakes rattled down Max's shoulders and arms, jolting her against the wall like a puppet. "Just come and sit down, will you? Wait quietly with me. That is, if you're able."

Alec looked affronted. "I'm not a hyperactive child." He came over and sat down beside her, and began flexing and unflexing his fists.

"You sure about that?" Max asked. Her voice hitched at the end of the question. Damn, why did _Alec_ of all people have to be the one to see her like this?

Alec cast a sidewise glance at her. Max was too preoccupied being miserable to try to decipher what it meant. Then, he reached out and took one of her quaking, cold hands between both of his large, warm hands.

"There," he said, sounding satisfied. "That helps."

And weirdly enough, it really did.


	13. Chapter 13

_Dark Angel, Alec/Max, racing in the rain_

* * *

Laughing. Running. Cold rain spewing down from above, angry and hard, made light and easy by their moods.

He's running ahead, down the shadowed alleyway, lit intermittently by the warm glow of streetlights. His thighs are pumping, strong and muscled, pants drawn tight over the curves and valleys of his flesh and she's not noticing that, she's not. She's just running like her life depends on it, arms pistoning through the air, core tight and unyielding even as a grin freezes on her face. He casts a look over his shoulder – flash of teeth and glint of eye and then they speed over the white parking lot line that marks the end of their impromptu racetrack and he's won. He's won, dammit.

Still, she can't be too angry because he's turning around, smirk on his curving, luscious lips, saying, "Beat ya, Maxie. Now you gotta give me one thing I want."

"I don't gotta do nothing, Pretty Boy," she says, jutting her chin out and waggling her head side to side, but not in anger, no, just matter of fact because this is Alec and this is how she is with him.

"You afraid to give me what I want?" He needles her, then laughs at her offended expression. "Then, come here," he dares and his voice is smooth, like the fenders of her bike smooth, slick and seamless and easy, so easy that she just stalks up to him, breathing hard from their race, breath making clouds of steam in the air.

He's breathing hard, too, eyes alight with some deep burning fire, some irrepressible mischievousness that takes all her sarcasm and tosses it aside, lets it slide off of him like water on just-waxed paint.

She gets all up in his space, knocks him with her shoulder, expects him to move back, to yield to her like he always does, but he surprises her. He steps into her path and just looks at her and he's not laughing any more, no, not even smiling. His eyes are dark and his lips are tight and he says in a hoarse and strained voice, "Max. Oh, Max." And then he's leaning forward and his lips are pressing against hers, and fireworks are exploding in her mind. Shock and pleasure and the slow syrupy warmth of desire, unexpected and amazing.

She should fight him, push him away and retreat into anger. How dare he spoil her romance with Logan? How dare he blunder his way into her life, mess it all up with his smirking and laughing and breathing –

She can't work up the rage for that though because she's melting into him, just sagging like her spine has been liquefied, and it's good. It's so good. His tongue is slipping tentatively into her mouth, dipping inside and letting her know that he wants her. Her fingers are gripping his jacket, feeling the moisture of the rain and the warmth of his skin radiating from inside, and his arms are folded around her waist, pressing their bodies so close together.

He pulls back a little, just looks at her with something like worship on his face, and says again, "Max."

Her heart is thundering in her chest. Her face is flushing, her skin burning like lighter fluid has been ignited on it. She can't look away from him though, doesn't even want to, and when he says her name again the wrecked way he sounds is the sweetest aphrodisiac she can ever imagine.

She kisses him this time and the world freezes just like that, firefly in amber. And now, when they break apart for air, it's his name that's on her lips, and she realizes he's won again, more than the race this time, more than the prize of this kiss. Somehow, when she wasn't looking, when she was busy being unbearably irritated by him, he's managed to win her heart.


	14. Chapter 14

_Max/Alec, heat totally counts as a stupid mistake_

_

* * *

  
_

She could tell just by the knock on the door who it was. A peek out the peephole confirmed her suspicions. Alec, looking anxious.

She took a deep breath before opening the door. His hands were jammed in the front pockets of his jeans and he looked strangely vulnerable. The two of them stood there for a long moment, just staring at one another.

"Max," he said, a soft murmur of sound from even softer lips. She remembered the feel of those lips tracing her own, the gentle press of them at the thin skin beneath her ears and the humid puffs of breath as he thrust into her, sweet and hard and oh, so good.

"Hey," she greeted him, and stood aside to let him into her small apartment in TC. It was actually a supply closet, still crammed with medical supplies, but it also had a dresser and a mattress and she didn't need much, really.

Of course Alec had already been here, had laid her down on that cot and made love to her with a fervency and intensity that still made her blush, three days later. The things they had done together was blush-inducing enough, but it was the things he'd said that kept coming back again and again – "Wanted this for so long, baby," and "Never thought I could have this," and "M'crazy for you."

He glanced guiltily at the cot and then back at her, dropping his eyes to the floor and swallowing noticeably before he cleared his throat and said, "I came to apologize. I'm not that guy, the one that takes advantage of you during your heat. I mean, technically I suppose I _am_ that guy because of what happened the other night, but I don't _want_ to be that guy any more. I want to treat you right, like you deserve to be treated, and I know I don't have the best track record when dealing with women but that's all going to

change--"

He was talking too quickly, like he expecting her to bust his chops. Not an unreasonable expectation, given her past behavior. She stepped toward him, reached up and pressed a finger to his lips, stilling the stream of words immediately. "Hey. I'm the one who asked you over the other night, remember? I did that for a reason. You didn't take advantage of me."

He looked at her warily, obviously puzzled. "I … didn't?"

She shook her head. "I make stupid mistakes from time to time, Alec. But that, the other night? It wasn't a mistake."

He looked at her, really taking her words in. He swallowed again, and when he spoke his voice was rough. "I'm glad. Because I'd like this to be something, you know? Something more than just one night, as awesome as that night was."

She moved closer, and his arms slipped around her waist like they belonged there. Her heart thundered in her chest like a war drum and her mouth was dry, but she pushed past the discomfort and said what she'd been waiting for say for days not. "Yeah, I'd like this to be something, too."


	15. Chapter 15

Dark Angel, Alec/Max, time is running out

"Stop!" Alec hissed. "You don't have time."

"Like hell I don't," she snapped, and put her hands on the crossbow bolt. With a great heave she yanked it free from where it had passed through the meat of his thigh and embedded itself in the wooden planks of the ramshackle old hut they found themselves in.

He screamed – howled in agony, really. She was surprised at how much hearing him in pain hurt her as well. In the end, though, his Manticore training asserted itself. He recovered quickly, grabbed her arm, and started spewing the same old crap he'd been telling her all along. "Damn, it, Max! Leave me – you can't carry me out in time. For God's sake, get your ass out of here, quick!"

She looked around wildly. There was nothing here – just a broken down cot and a stained old mattress in the corner. White's crazies – the ones who had shot Alec and left the bomb to begin with – were gone. The bomb was ticking, seconds left only and she knew she should do as he said, just leave him and his wounded, aggravating ass here, go back to TC and Joshua and not touching Logan and—

She couldn't live with herself if she did that. She just … couldn't.

She shook her head, face set and eyes steady.

"No!" He cried out, face caught halfway between anger and agony. "I don't want you to die, too. Please, Max."

"I'm not leaving, you idiot. Just deal with that in the--" She glanced at the timer on the bomb. "Six point two seconds we have left."

He stared at her in wordless frustration for what felt like an hour before lunging forward, hands cupping her cheeks. Suddenly she was immersed in sensation, in the warm, sweet, drug-like quality of his lips, the musky scent of his aftershave, the sinewy strength of his arms, and nothing else mattered. Not even life itself. She heard the click of the bomb running out of time and expected the explosion to be the next sound she heard. Instead there was—nothing. Just the battering ram pounding of her heart against her ribcage.

She pulled back from the kiss, looked at the unexploded bomb and at Alec's moist lips and realized that it might as well have exploded, for all the damage this would do to her life.

The fact that she suddenly realized how little she cared was another surprise.

Sweaty and dazed, pupils dilated and blood soaking his jeans from the hole in his thigh, he ground out, "What the hell?"

He looked so adorably disheveled and put out by the whole situation that she leaned back in and kissed him this time.


	16. Chapter 16

_Dark Angel, Max/Alec, forced to submit to her authority._

* * *

"Do it," she directed, the flicking the end of the whip impatiently.

"You can't be serious," he said, lip trembling a bit because hell if she didn't _look_ serious.

She ran her tongue across her lower lip, left a smooth glide of moisture on the plump flesh there. Alec couldn't seem to tear his gaze away from her lips – so beautiful, like everything about her tonight, from her dark curly hair to the black leather vest, form fitting black leggings to the ridiculously high-heeled boots she wore. She'd bitched like a pro when Logan had sent them to masquerade as patrons for the S&M club, but in the end she'd done it. And damn if it didn't look like she was getting off on the whole thing. Initially, Alec was the one who'd leered and laughed and waggled his eyebrows at her, but now he thought she'd taken the whole dominatrix thing a little too much too heart.

She stepped closer to him, the street light outside her run down apartment reflected in her large dark eyes. The world narrowed to the space between them, to the white puffs of her breath and the sudden tension that squeezed his stomach and kicked his heart rate up.

"I want you to," she said simply, raising a perfectly sculpted eyebrow and regarding him with quiet disdain.

He swallowed. This was … unexpected. He was tempted to laugh off her command and accuse her of some bitchy hormonal thing but ever since they'd walked into that club this evening the dynamics between them had been weird. Noticeably. Max walked taller, swayed those curvy hips more, cast an appraising eye on the other men and Alec in particular. At first he thought that the tight dark t-shirt and leather jacket he was wearing were turning her on. Now … well, now he honestly didn't know what to think.

Outraged refusals clamored up his throat and nearly burst out, but if Manticore had taught him one thing, it was self restraint. He clamped down hard on his instinctive reaction and just looked at her. She lifted her chin and stared back, proud, unafraid and unapologetic.

"Do you know what you're asking me?" His voice was hoarse.

"I know," she said, eyes so wide and dark that he felt, for a moment, like he was drowning in them.

The relationship between the two of them had started out rocky, to say the least. But ever since she'd confessed about Ben she hadn't seemed unreasonable any more. Something had settled between them, a sort of tentative respect that hadn't been there before.

He lowered himself slowly to his knees, feeling the rain-damp concrete wet his jeans. He looked up at her imperious face, her expression hidden in shadows, and swallowed again. Then, slowly, he bent to place his hands on the concrete sidewalk and lowered his head until he was a mere inch from the shiny patent leather toes of Max's right boot. Heart thundering in his chest and embarrassment heating his neck, he closed his eyes and licked her boot in slow, long stripes.

The patent leather was smooth and plastic under his tongue, with a faint taste of oil. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about whether anyone else could see them. It was 3 am and as far as he knew no one else was out … but there was always the possibility that someone could be watching them from inside one of the other apartments on the block. When he put aside thoughts of embarrassment he discovered something surprising: his dick was ragingly hard.

Well, now, this was a kink he never knew he had.

He felt Max's eyes on him, dark and wide and quiet. He wondered what she was thinking, if she loathed him or if he was doing what she wanted … she said nothing, and he continued licking for an endless tease of a moment.

Then, heart thundering, he began kissing his way up her shin to her knee and thigh, onward and upward across her hip until his mouth was on the leather covering flat belly and his arms were wrapped around her ass, resting on the small of her back. He heard her surprised intake of breath, but he didn't look at her, couldn't bear it if there was condemnation in her gaze. He turned his cheek to rest against her navel, his breath ghosting outward in humid puffs, moistening the leather around his face. He was trembling, he realized suddenly, body jerking in little shudders from his shoulders to his toes. He felt Max go rigid beneath him, felt her breath still for a moment, as she seemed to take in the situation.

Her fingers tangled in his hair, long nails scraping his scalp lightly, and she murmured, "Good boy, Alec. Good boy."

Something dark and twisted in his gut released and he surged up from his knees, driving her backward against the damp brick wall of the apartment building. She gave a little cry of surprise as the two of them came to a halt, bodies pressed together and faces so very close. Her hand was still in his hair. For a long moment they just stared into one another's eyes. Then she twisted her hand, tugging a hank of hair just hard enough to be uncomfortable, not painful.

"Did I give you permission to do that?" Her voice was silk and bourbon.

He gave a little grin that was too shaky to be called a smirk. "No, ma'am."

She released him, shoved him back by the shoulders. He staggered a couple of steps. She pointed toward the doorway to her apartment. "Then you have to make it up to me, now don't you, soldier?"

Arousal pumped fresh through his veins. He tried not to smile as he ducked his head and said softly, "Yes, ma'am."

"Com'on," she said, throwing a smoldering look over one shoulder, and entering the building.

He followed.


End file.
